Minister must answer for ‘secret’ fracking meeting

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron has today called for the Climate Change Minister, Claire Perry, to make a statement to Parliament to explain why she held an unrecorded meeting with fracking companies.

The Liberal Democrat MP also wants the Climate Change Minister to explain her proposed plan to relax rules designed to halt fracking operations given Cuadrilla has been forced to suspend fracking at their Lancashire site after a 0.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded.

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said:

The public will expect questions to be asked about the Climate Change Minister and her ‘secret’ meeting with fracking companies. We need to know who Minsters are being lobbied by and what they discussed, otherwise there can be no confidence in the Government.

Given the Climate Change Minister has also proposed a plan to relax rules designed to halt fracking, the public have a right to know why. Lib Dems put those measures in place to safeguard communities, as has been the case in Lancashire.

The Liberal Democrats demand better. The Climate Change Minister must give a statement to Parliament and be held to account by MPs.

PM must “do the right thing” on same-sex marriage as Bill is blocked

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has called on the Government to “do the right thing” and allow MPs a vote on allowing same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland following two Tory MPs blocking the Same-Sex Marriage (Northern Ireland) Bill from progressing in the House of Commons today.

Liberal Democrat MP, and co-sponsor of the Same-Sex Marriage (Northern Ireland) Bill, Layla Moran said:

It is shocking that one of the Tory Government’s own MPs has blocked this Bill going forward. It flies in the face of a large majority of the Northern Irish public and politicians who support same-sex marriage.

Liberal Democrats demand better. Every couple in all parts of the United Kingdom, no matter where they live or who they love, deserve the right to get married.

Following the successful campaign to change guidelines to make sure human rights in Northern Ireland are respected by the Government, Ministers must act. They must stand up to the DUP, do the right thing and allow MPs a vote on allowing same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

Government ignoring climate change threat to homes

Responding to the Committee on Climate Change report ‘Managing the coast in a changing climate’, former Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said:

This alarming report shows how climate change can and is already affecting the lives of millions – with huge numbers of homes at risk of flooding.

The costs of climate change damage will only get greater if we don’t act faster. Yet the Government is now on a “go slow” path to tackling climate change – when Liberal Democrats had put us in the fast lane.

Just last week the Government asked the Committee on Climate Change for advice on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, moving towards net-zero emissions. But they told the Committee not to offer any advice on the existing targets for ten years.

This is deeply worrying. They’re trying to kick the can down the road not realising that climate change is here now. Liberal Democrats demand better.

Universal Credit causing unacceptable hardship

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has slammed the Conservative Government for refusing to listen to problems experienced by those on Universal Credit as the Public Accounts Committee urges Ministers to make fundamental changes to the scheme.

The Public Accounts Committee has today (26th October) published its report into the implementation of Universal Credit. The committee concludes that:

• The DWP’s dismissive attitude to real-world experience is failing claimants
• The recent announcement of delayed roll-out is not a solution
• The Government must work with third-party organisations to shape programme

Liberal Democrat MP and Public Accounts Committee member, Layla Moran said:

Day in and day out I hear stories of payment delays, penalties and technical failures leading to hardship and mental health problems. But instead of listening to constructive criticism, the Conservatives attempt to force through Universal Credit without reform is creating a new poll tax.

This damming report proves what many of us suspected, and the Liberal Democrats demand better. The billions of pounds of funding that were cut from Universal Credit in 2015 must urgently be restored so that people get the support they need.

Cable: Philip Green knighthood should be stripped if allegations are correct

Responding to the naming of Sir Philip Green in connection to recent allegations in the Telegraph newspaper, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable said:

He narrowly and luckily escaped losing his knighthood over the pensions scandal.

If these allegations are correct, he should certainly be stripped of his knighthood.

Government wasting hundreds of millions on short term sentences

Responding to new statistics on the number of people going to prison on short-term sentences, Liberal Democrat spokesperson Ed Davey said:

The Justice Secretary has admitted that short-term sentences don’t work, and yet we are still spending hundreds of millions of pounds to lock people up for a matter of months.

Even worse, the Government is now trying to create new mandatory short-term sentences, which will tie judges’ hands and worsen prison overcrowding while failing to actually prevent crime.

The Liberal Democrats demand better. We are opposing the Government’s new mandatory sentences, and calling for a presumption against short prison sentences and greater use of tough community sentences, which have been shown to be more effective at reducing reoffending.

Campbell accuses Tories of “a facile misunderstanding of the EU”

Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Menzies Campbell, will today [25/10/2018] lead the first stand-alone debate in Parliament on the case for a ‘People’s Vote’ on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

Menzies Campbell will use the debate to accuse the Conservative Government of “displaying a facile misunderstanding of the European Union, its origins and its priorities.” The former Party Leader will also warn the Prime Minister that she cannot “pick and choose advantages of EU membership if the UK leaves the EU”.

The debate follows last weekend’s ‘People’s Vote’ march in London which saw nearly 700,000 protesters take to the streets to show their support for a final say on Brexit.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Menzies Campbell said:

The Brexiters never told the country that a decision to leave would result in the depreciation of the pound, an increase in inflation and a rise in the cost of living. But sadly the public have been failed by an incoherent and incompetent Tory Government whose divisions and internal strife undermine the United Kingdom.

We do not know what, if anything, the final package will be that is put before Parliament. However, the chances of it being approved by the Commons melt by the hour as bitterness and abuse replace loyalty and respect.

If ever there was a need for pause for thought it is now. That is why nearly 700,000 members of the public marched through the streets of London last Saturday calling for the people to have the final say on any deal.

Moran reveals Raab has failed to visit Irish border

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has today revealed that Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has failed to visit the Irish Border since his appointment in July 2018.

The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of trading “the lives of the communities on the Irish border for their ideological Brexit” after Ms Moran’s parliamentary questions revealed only one current Brexit Minister has visited Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

The confirmation from the Government follows a series of Liberal Democrat freedom of information requests which revealed 182 ambulances and 270 fire engines crossed into the Republic of Ireland during 2016-17 in response to 999 calls, highlighting how a hard border could potentially leave people with far slower emergency responses if the UK leaves the EU in a no-deal Brexit.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said:

It is shameful that the whole withdrawal agreement hinges on the Irish border yet the Secretary of State responsible hasn’t even bothered to visit Northern Ireland at all.

The Tories seem happy to trade the lives of the communities on the Irish border for their ideological Brexit. Liberal Democrats demand better.

The Tories are clearly incapable of finding a solution to the Irish border. The people must have a final say on the deal, with an option to remain in the EU.

Cable: UC’s practical problems are being ignored, creating real hardship

In a pre-Budget speech to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation this morning, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable will call for a series of reforms to Universal Credit.

These include the reversal of cuts to the work allowance, worth around £3bn a year, and ending the benefits freeze a year early.

Vince Cable is expected to say:

The problems stem from conflicting objectives: providing minimum family income; providing incentives to work; simplification; and saving money. Simplification, saving money and work incentives have taken precedence over the first, crucial, priority.

Practical problems have been ignored creating real hardship, payment delays in the switchover, penalties for the self-employed; use of a single bank account for divided families; barriers to work from lack of childcare; monthly payments for those on weekly or casual wages; technical complexities in establishing online payment; and the use of Universal Credit to facilitate debt collection…

[But] the fact that UC is becoming loathed and is being implemented incompetently and harshly does not invalidate the reasoning behind it. I strongly repudiate the Labour Party’s suggestion that Universal Credit should be scrapped without being clear what the replacement is: a classic case of soundbites taking precedence over thought-through policies.